"This is the baseball."

There's a little town just beneath the floodline that needs a local hero

When I was a kid, Cory Snyder came to The Palace at Euclid High School (it was and is, simply, a high school baseball field, but it was referred to as "The Palace" because it had such posh amenities as a working scoreboard and covered dugouts).

Snyder put on a little clinic for us Euclid Boys League players. He taught us the finer points that made him, inarguably, the game's greatest player to ever hit 149 homers and notch 992 strikeouts.

Then, Snyder put on a Home Run Derby display that drew oohs, ahhs and gasps. And understand: This was my favorite player, in my town, on one of my fields. I was so mesmerized by the sheer magnitude of the moment that I didn't even notice when my dad took off to chase down a foul ball for me. Snyder later signed the ball. It still holds a special place in my heart -- and a box in my basement.

I can only imagine the way I felt that spring day in 1988 is similar to the way the kids of Goodyear, Ariz., felt this morning, when the Indians held an open house at the new Goodyear Ballpark. The players did their fundamental drills and took BP on the field, then walked down the first-base line signing autographs for (seemingly) one and all. Grady Sizemore was there. Victor Martinez was there. Jhonny Peralta was there. It was good to see the guys interacting with the locals and the fans who made the trek from Cleveland.

Of course, it would have been a lot cooler if Cory Snyder was there.

EXCRUCIATING MINUTIA OF THE DAY...

Jeremy Sowers has been named the Indians' Opening Day starter. Opening Day of the Cactus League schedule, that is. He'll get the ball Wednesday at the Goodyear Ballpark opener against the Giants.

Today marked the historic debut of the shuttle system that will bring the players to and from the stadium from the complex. There are three shuttles working on a rotation.

A little controversy erupted when one of the shuttles took off without Eric Wedge and several players, even though they were in striking distance of the doors. Josh Barfield was absolutely buried by his teammates, because he was apparently the last guy on the bus before it took off. But it was all in good fun.

Ed Mujica has looked as good as you can look in two live batting practice sessions. He's out of options, and, if all things are equal with the relief candidates, he'd get the job because of that contract status. But it's early. Let's see how he looks in the games.

The more I see of Luis Valbuena, the more I like. He looks quite polished in the field, and he has a smooth swing. One line on Valbuena when the Indians acquired him this winter was that he's a bit on the stocky side, but he looks to be in pretty good shape to me.

Fausto Carmona, on the other hand, must be a regular at the Andy Marte Buffet.

Speaking of which, there was a Marte sighting at camp here today. He came here to workout, as he is, technically, still with the organization. He got out of here before reporters could shake him down for a few thoughts on the move the other day.

Travis Hafner is still not hitting outside. He's taking BP in the cages every other day and still feels fine. No word on when he'll progress to the next step, but it can't be too far off.

The new ballpark is absolutely beautiful. Then again, I guess you wouldn't expect the centerpiece of a $108 million complex to be a dump, right?

There are a lot of great jobs in baseball, but wouldn't you just love to be a team's Australia and Europe scouting supervisor? I know I would.

For the 90 seconds in which it lived in my notebook, I totally bought David Dellucci's story about saving a little boy from an alligator and having his thumb bit in the process. I guess after 10 days of a rather dull existence here in Goodyear, I was just so excited to finally have a great story to latch on to. At least I wasn't the only one buying it.

Some fibs have made it to print over the years. In the early '80s, pitcher Ross Grimsley had reporters believing he had an armadillo farm. In the '90s, Brian Giles had some bite marks on his leg and explained that they were from a yellow-tailed scorpion.

My MLB.com colleague Tom Singer had some interesting data on this winter's signings, noting that it was actually, on average, more beneficial to be a young player in arbitration than it was to be a free agent on the open market.

Hey Dazgod…I’m guessing when AC mentioned that he was dining at the Marte Buffet, he didn’t mean he was hitting the salad bar a lot.
I do know this…Mark Teahen once shut down a buffet restaurant by himself after eating there for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and 4th meal for one whole week. Not only did they suffer severe losses in terms of food (Mark could eat 17 to 24 platefuls in one sitting), but Mark’s habit of growling and barking at each plate before he dined scared away even the most faithful of customers. After a little research, it turns out that the Indians-Royals trade rumor may have been initiated by a local group of restaurant finaciers who were hopeful that the two teams would run with it, thus sparing them of their dreaded nightmares and the howls they still hear in their sleep.

IF Ed “Gas Can” Mujica makes the roster and occupies the 7th bullpen spot ONLY because he is out of options then I am no longer an Indians fan. I will wash my hands of Mark Shapiro, Eric Wedge, and this entire organization. Seriously. We would be living through another year of not cutting a guy do to so obscure potential he supposedly has because of options. But this guy has shown us NOTHING to make this roster. I don’t care if he throws 20 scoreless innings in the spring league and feels he’s due something for having the route between Cleveland and Buffalo memorized down to the mile markers on I-90. After all the pitchers we’ve brought into camp this year I have no place for this junker. Cut him loose NOW.

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